The dawn broke over the Nexus, painting the sky between the colossal spires with the hues of three different suns – a soft gold, a fierce crimson, and a pale, ethereal blue.
The city, usually a chaotic symphony of a million different lives, had a new, focused energy today. Streams of beings, thousands upon thousands of them, flowed through the designated transit corridors, all heading towards one destination: the Sector Gamma Arenas.
Rhys moved with the current, just another anonymous figure in the vast, multi-species river. He wore the same simple, durable traveler's clothes he had registered in, the small metallic data chip identifying him as Combatant 7,842,912 clipped securely to his belt.
His face was the unremarkable mask he had maintained for the past month, his brown eyes showing a carefully controlled mixture of nervousness and determination. Inside, however, his mind was a calm, cold lake, his senses fully expanded, observing everything.
